Sign Up To Be A Site Captain

For Coastal Cleanup Day
Sign Up Here

Step Up Your Level of Volunteerism

Site Captains are a vital part of our team and whose job is the heart of the cleanup effort. You will help in multiple tasks, listed below, and will have the full support of Coastwalk, every step of the way.

Prior to Coastal Clean-up Day you will attend a Site Captain Training on Saturday, September 14 on Zoom. On the day of the event (Saturday, September 21) you will guide volunteers with their efforts to clean up trash from designated areas, separate trash from recycling, record what they find on data cards, summarize and report the data to Coastwalk, and hopefully have some fun taking care of our environment. Help ensure that our Sonoma Coast remains beautiful, but most importantly, help volunteers walk away from the Coastal Cleanup Day with a better understanding of marine debris, what its impacts are, where it might come from and how they can help fight this problem every day.

Site Captain Roles and Responsibilities

PRIOR TO COASTAL CLEANUP DAY

  • Attend the Site Captain Training on Saturday, September 14 on Zoom (link will be sent out). The Site Captain Training is designed to teach you everything you need to know about Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday, September 21 in order to ensure that you are well prepared to serve as a leader for your site. Coastwalk will provide a training in safety, helpful tips, necessary procedures and responsibilities to be practiced as a Site Captain. We will have all the cleanup supplies ready for you to pick up the morning of the cleanup.
  • Familiarize yourself with the Site Captain’s Manual (to be sent out), which includes great information such as “Day-of Timelines”, “Safety Guidelines”, and “Site Captain Checklists”.
  • Recruit your team of helpers and help recruit volunteers for your beach clean-up site. Coastwalk is actively bringing in volunteers for this Coastal Cleanup Day, but we encourage you to bring your own helpers and volunteers to support you on the day of.
  • Please have any volunteers you bring in fill the Volunteer Signup Form prior to the event.
  • Familiarize yourself with the data cards (both for volunteers and for beach captains) (to be sent out).

DAY OF THE CLEANUP

  • Show up to the cleanup site at least a half hour before scheduled cleanup begins.
  • Greet volunteers and have them fill out a liability waiver form as they come in, or collect them if they have already printed and filled them out.
  • Give volunteers instructions on how and where to clean, safety precautions, how to use the data cards, what to recycle, and how and where to dispose of trash. Remember, we will give you all of this information prior to the cleanup day so that you can review it well in advance.
  • Distribute supplies: data cards, gloves, grabbers and trash receptacles.
  • Offer volunteers water and snacks (we will provide you these).
  • Inform volunteers of return time: Let everyone know when to return to the starting point with enough time to turn in their data card.
  • As volunteers return, collect their data cards and any unusual items they found.
  • Take pictures! When possible, take photos of people cleaning up (or delegate this task to one of your helpers). We would love to see a group photo of volunteers with their trash and unusually collected items. These photos will be uploaded to our Google Drive folder or can be emailed/ texted to the Coastal Cleanup Day Coordinator.
  • Provide them information on posting photos (what hashtags to use or who to tag) – don’t worry, we will provide all of this information in your Site Captain folder.
  • Weigh trash and recyclables. Tabulate the TOTAL pounds trash and recyclables collected, the number of volunteers who participated (including captains), approximate number of miles cleaned up, how many volunteers brought reusable cleanup supplies, and any unusual items.
  • Thank participants and let them know how much we appreciate their effort.
  • Report Results: Report these findings to Coastwalk’s Coastal Cleanup Day Coordinator by 1:00. Send by email to [email protected] or text (number to be given at training), or give them directly to the Coordinator. Time is of the essence!

AFTER THE CLEANUP  

  • Site Cleanup: Make sure all recycling and trash have been picked up from all your beaches and your site is in better condition than when you arrived.
  • Please fill out the Cleanup Captain’s Summary Results Sheet. This is important and can be done only by you. It is simple to fill out and critical for our records.

Thank You!

We understand that this may seem like a lot of responsibility, but remember, the Coastwalk Team is here to back you up! Together, we can make this day a success.

Please contact Coastwalk’s Coastal Cleanup Coordinator Lindsey Pacela with any questions at [email protected]  or call (707) 829-6689 Extension 2. Thank you!